Chunghwa Market Bazaar opens in Taipei

2014-10-14

A special exhibition showcasing the history of the former Chunghwa Market Bazaar opened Oct. 10 at Zhongshan Hall in Taipei City.

Staged as part of celebrations marking the 130th anniversary of the city, the exhibition features old photos, documents, records, tailor’s equipment, electronic parts and other items once sold at the bazaar. Other highlights include a documentary featuring eight shop owners reminiscing about the good old days.

Huang Guo-ching, director of Zhongshan Hall Management Office, said the historic hall, which hosted the surrender ceremony of the Japanese to the ROC government in 1945, is the perfect site for the exhibition.

“It was once a neighbor of the bazaar,” she said, urging locals and tourists to come and experience the must-see event before it wraps up Dec. 22.

Originally three rows of temporary shacks used to house those who relocated to Taiwan from mainland China in 1949, a more permanent form of the bazaar was ordered constructed along Chunghwa Road by former President Chiang Kai-shek in April 1961. This was where the section of Taipei City’s old wall from the North to South gates once ran.

From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the bazaar comprised eight three-story cement structures, each named after the eight moral disciplines in Confucianism: loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, trust, justice, harmony and peace. It was considered the first retail marketplace in Taipei and one of the most important landmarks.

The 1.17-kilometer-long bazaar provided space for 1,644 shops and eateries in which tailored suits, traditional clothing, bags, shoes, electronic parts, giftware and food from the different provinces of mainland China could be easily found.

Lu Bao-chung, whose father owned an antique shop in the bazaar, has fond memories of the area during its 31-year existence. “In the early days, U.S. military personnel on leave from Vietnam were regular customers,” she said. “Later, they were replaced by tourists from Japan and other parts of the world.”

With three siblings running electronic parts shops in the bazaar, Lu’s ties to the area run deep. “One of my brothers once took around US$13,000 on the first day of a Chinese New Year,” she said. “The bazaar really was always the best place for shopping.”

Lin Hsien-chong, chairman of Chunghwa Market Bazaar Residents’ Rights Association, said relocating those who lived and worked in the area 22 years ago was no simple task. “It took the government eight years to resettle the residents in the end.

“It was a sad moment when the curtain came down on the bazaar. More than 2,000 police officers were deployed to ensure there would not be physical confrontations during the process.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222766&CtNode=413)